Rudolphina – Research Magazine of the University of Vienna

Mathematical Physics

The strange maths behind freezing water, pandemics and rumours

Mathematical Physics

The strange maths behind freezing water, pandemics and rumours

To many, maths seems detached from everyday life. University of Vienna mathematician Nathanaël Berestycki shows why this could not be more wrong: Maths is a powerful tool to make sense of common but surprisingly connected phenomena – from freezing water to social phenomena and pandemics. Even so, blind spots remain that keep him awake at night.

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Event tip
19. March 2026 - 19:00

Hungary Facing Regime Change (Or Not)

Café Merkur, Florianigasse 18, 1080 Vienna

Péter Krekó, Eszter Kováts, Alexander Etkind, János Mátyás Kovács

The Research Center for the History of Transformations (RECET) at the University of Vienna invites to its regular Transformative Salon on March 19. The topic is the political situation in Hungary ahead of the parliamentary elections: after 15 years of constitutional majority, Viktor Orbán's regime is facing a new opposition force, Tisza, led by Péter Magyar.

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26. March 2026 - 15:00

Public Lecture with political scientist Carolina Plescia

University of Vienna, Universitätsring 1, 1010 Vienna, HS 42, HG, 2nd floor, staircase 7

Carolina Plescia

Democracy is widely praised yet rarely understood in precise terms. What do we actually mean when we talk about "democracy", and how can we tell whether it is thriving or in decline? The lecture examines the core idea of popular rule and shows why its definition is more controversial than it seems.

Adolescent digital health

Should teenagers put their phones down? Not so fast.

U.S. health communication researcher Matt Minich, now continuing his research at the University of Vienna, speaks to the Rudolphina about teen smartphone use and mood, the lack of scientific evidence for blanket social media bans, and what it is about our brains that makes digital health and advertising campaigns so persuasive.

Focus on stress

Stressed out?

How does stress impact the mind and the body? Rudolphina had a relaxed interview with stress researcher Urs Nater who focuses in particular on the interactions between stress and health.

Semester question

What should we learn when everything is changing?

Education and well-being

The school of the good life

Quality of life and well-being are increasingly sought after in many areas of life – including education. What does ‘happiness’ mean in the classroom, ask educational psychologist Julia Holzer and educational researcher Denis Francesconi.

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What does citizen science have to do with democracy?

Must-reads on lifelong learning, democracy and inclusion

Research literacy for tomorrow's teachers

Climate crisis in the classroom

New ways of remembrance

Can AI feedback help us learn better?

How much participation can classrooms take?

Focus

Learning from the past

A look into the past

Can we learn from history?

Democracies are in crisis, wars are raging and the right-wing AfD party recently became the second-strongest party in Germany. Shouldn't we know better? We ask historian Walter Pohl why we hardly learn from history.

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